# A Serpent Protects Vasudeva Taking His Infant Son Krishna to Safety

- Date: c. 1890
- Medium: Gum tempera, graphite, ink, and tin on paper
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Painting only: 45 x 27.7 cm (17 11/16 x 10 7/8 in.)
- Culture: Eastern India, Bengal, Kolkata, Kalighat
- Credit line: Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2003.153)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/2003.153/2003.153_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

In the dead of night, Krishna was born to parents who were imprisoned by his evil uncle, the usurper King Kamsa. While a goddess compelled the guards to sleep, Krishna’s father, Vasudeva, in the middle of a storm, spirited the newborn to safety in a cowherd village, where he exchanged Krishna for another infant. In the morning, Kamsa murdered the infant he thought was the child of Vasudeva, and Krishna lived to be raised by the herders.